Surfing Life

What came first, Chicken Joe or the egghead? You know what I mean: board or rider, shaped or shaper? Since surfing’s beginning, have we been stuck in a time loop? Boards. We shape them. They shape us. We shape them. They shape us. We shape them—this could lead to boardom. Even when surfboards are retired, and their famous (or infamous) riders have returned to the ground, their sleds continue to influence us. Is it the boards themselves? In the Gold Coast’s Surf World museum, we can touch MP’s “Fangtail” or a hand-carved, balsa and redwood board that Duke Kahanamoku rode in the 1920s. Why do some surfboards hold significance while others get trashed? Imagine stumbling into a dusty antique store, buying an old tarnished lamp engraved with tidal patterns, rubbing its side three times,…

What is the future for board collectors? When most people think “board collections”, they tend to go straight to thoughts about vintage, which by definition doesn’t have a specific period—20 years is generally the accepted minimum. Forty years is considered the peak short-term price for vintage goods, which seems to coincide with the life cycle or peak-earning capacity for the prime market of collectors. Going back 40 years in their life, they’re trying to buy memories and mementos—reminders of their past. Randy Rarick once told me he thinks the peak period starts at 38 years and runs for a decade after. So when talking about vintage surfboards, no one knows more about them than he does. So I’m happy to run with that. [By applying the 38-year peak-period calculation, and almost being…

If I were to own any prized collector’s board, it would have to be an early ’70s Gerry Lopez single fin. These boards represent boundaries being pushed at Pipeline and Lopez’s ability to surf waves of consequence with elegance. The lightning bolt boards became iconic as they graced many surf magazine covers, encapsulating an era of surfing. Hence, having one of these boards in my collection would be like owning a little piece of surfing’s history. Tough, tough question. Although there are about five collectors’ boards I’d love to own—and not your classic MP or Duke—from Occy and Kelly to Tom Carroll, but I’m going to have to go with a Parko sled from his 2012 World Title year (actually, any year, thanks). I don’t care which one, just one of…

EDITORIAL Josh AllenKate AllmanJohn AndrewsMat BellWill BendixTessa BerkeleyRussell BierkeChris BinnsDaniel BrennanBrad BricknellMichael CiaramellaLiz ClarkNoah CohanHayden CoxRicky DannAndy DavisKeiran DeckRambo EstradaJaymie FaberSosefina FuamoliLachlan GaruttiMatt GeorgeJoey GriffithsCameron GroverKaipo GuerreroAshleigh HarnwellTim HawkenLauren HillJake HowardBrad HutchinsLuke "Louie" HyndCraig JarvisJonathan JenkinsScott JohnstoneCandice LandCraig MacintyreTorren MartynMark MathewsAndrew McKinnonKate McMahonToby MossopGraeme MurdochTaylor PaulTom PearsallChris PeelDerek RiellyMichael SaundersSteve ShearerCraig SimsChas SmithJed SmithLuke SurpliceKerry WrightSam Zubevich PHOTOGRAPHIC Jack BarrippJohn BartonScott BauerLeroy BelletBrian BielmannDavid BinerIan BirdPeter BohlerPeter BoskovichJohn BrumfieldChris BurkardJosh BurkinshawJosh BystromJohn CallahanChloe CandarakisTom CareyKelly CestariJason ChildsAndrew ChisholmAndrew ChristieMitch ClarkAntony ColasRay CollingsChris CotéRyan "Chachi" CraigMick CurleyHilton DaweJack DekortJeff DivineDamea DorseyMatt DunbarSam ElsomRambo EstradaSean EvansWayne EvansJoel EveradGreg EwingKim FeastIshka FolkwellLynden FossPete FriedenJorge GarciaLachlan GaruttiAdam GibsonStu GibsonJonathan GiovanniTodd GlaserMike GleesonPedro GomesWoody GoochTed GrambeauDavis HansenOdell HarrisJules Hatton-WardDan HaywardRyan HeywoodDick HooleSpence HornbyDustin HumphreyMark HunterCalin JonesPeter JovicJordan "Nugget" KeirJason KenworthyGeorge KettleMike KillionDavid KirklandRichard KotchKerry LangdonMike LatronicAlex LaurelNat LawrenceSteven…

Commentators, pundits, announcers, and surf fans, in general, love to throw the word “legend” around. “GOAT” seems to be another descriptor many of us in the surf world use, especially regarding Kelly Slater. Who we choose to root for is subjective, and unlike other mainstream sports, surf fans don’t always blindly follow surfers based on where they’re from or who they ride for. Yet, Stephanie Gilmore is the type of athlete we rally behind, because everything she does is with grace, style, and skill. Before we talk 2022, let’s take a quick trip down memory lane. Steph started surfing at home on the Gold Coast, Australia, at age 10. Seven years later, she received wildcard invites to Championship Tour events. In 2005, she won the Roxy Pro Gold Coast; two years…

Congratulations This is your wave You launch over the ledge And you’re up and away You have wax on the deck And fins down below You can steer yourself Wherever you want to go Turn your surfboard over. Oh, it was already fins-up? Then turn it over again, Einstein. Check out those slender, curved foils of fibreglass on the bottom. Where did they come from? What’s that? They came with the board? No, I mean, where did they really come from? How did they come to be? From whence did they originate? Fins are so integral to modern surfing you might not give their origins a lot of thought. But fins have as fascinating, twisted and meandering a history as surfboard design itself. Think of them as your board’s steering mechanism, your ship’s rudder.…